Wireless communication systems divide areas of coverage into cells, each of which is served by a base station. A mobile terminal will continuously monitor the signal strengths of the servicing base station for the current cell as well as for adjacent cells. The mobile terminal will send the signal strength information to the network. As the mobile terminal moves toward the edge of the current cell, the servicing base station will determine that the mobile terminal's signal strength is diminishing, while an adjacent base station will determine the signal strength is increasing. The two base stations coordinate with each other through the network, and when the signal strength of the adjacent base station surpasses that of the current base station, control of the communications is switched to the adjacent base station from the current base station. The switching of control from one base station to another is referred to as a handoff.
A hard handoff is a handoff that completely and instantaneously transitions from a first to a second base station. Hard handoffs have proven problematic and often result in dropped calls. CDMA systems incorporate a soft handoff, wherein when the mobile terminal moves from a first to a second cell, the handoff process happens in multiple steps. First, the mobile terminal recognizes the viability of the second base station, and the network allows both the current and adjacent base stations to carry the call. As the mobile terminal move closer to the second base station and away from the first base station, the signal strength from the first base station will eventually drop below a useful level. At this point, the mobile terminal will inform the network, which will instruct the first base station to drop the call and let the second base station continue servicing the call. Accordingly, a soft handoff is characterized by commencing communications with a new base station before terminating communications with the old base station. Soft handoffs in CDMA systems have proven very reliable.
In the ever-continuing effort to increase data rates and capacity of wireless networks, communication technologies evolve. Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems represent an encouraging solution for the next generation high-speed data downlink access. A benefit of such systems is their high spectral efficiency wherein all of the allocated spectrum can be used by all base stations. The systems are generally considered to have a frequency reuse factor of one. Unfortunately, these systems generate strong co-channel interference, especially at cell borders. Basic frequency reuse-one planning will lead to very low data rates and a poor quality of service for mobile terminals at cell borders. Even though data repetition, re-transmission techniques, and fairness scheduling for data transmission can be employed, it is difficult to equalize data rate distribution across the cell. Accordingly, high-speed data service is severely limited.
In other technologies, such as CDMA, soft handoffs are used to enhance service at cell borders. However, a straightforward extension of soft handoff techniques developed for CDMA systems is not applicable to the MIMO-OFDM systems, since the separation of the interference for the OFDM waveform is virtually impossible. Because different spreading code masking is not available in OFDM transmission, the destructive interferences between base stations transmitting the same signal can cause significant degradation of performance. Accordingly, there is a need for an efficient soft handoff technique for OFDM systems as well as a need to increase data rates and reduce interference at cell borders.